A. Field of Invention
This invention generally relates to motor vehicles and more specifically relates to a fuel lid that can be moved between a closed condition and an open condition with a four-bar linkage assembly.
B. Description of the Related Art
It is well known in the art for passenger vehicles to have a fuel tank which stores fuel used to operate the vehicle's engine. Typically a fuel filling pipe extends from the fuel tank up to an opening formed in the side of the vehicle's body. In order to access the top of the fuel filling pipe in order to fill the fuel tank with fuel, a fuel lid is moved from a closed condition where access to the fuel filling pipe through the opening is prevented to an open condition where access to the fuel filling pipe can be achieved through the opening. Once the fuel lid is opened, a cap can be removed from the outer end of the fuel filling pipe and fuel can then be added to the fuel filling pipe and thus to the fuel tank. Once the fuel tank is filled, the cap can be replaced and the fuel lid can then be moved back to the closed condition.
Typically, the fuel lid is moved between its open and closed conditions by pivoting or rotating the fuel lid about a hinge axis. While such hinged fuel lids generally work well for their intended purpose, they have drawbacks. One drawback is that the fuel lid, when opened, extends outside of the vehicle's outer styling surface (typically defined by an outer surface of a body panel). This extension beyond the outer styling surface means that the fuel lid requires a relatively strong support structure. This extension beyond the outer styling surface also means that, if the customer leaves the lid open, it could inadvertently contact another object as the vehicle is moved. Furthermore, the possibility that the customer may leave the lid open also means that certain industry safety requirements must be met—such as positioning the fuel lid to always open toward the front of the vehicle so that aerodynamic forces (created by driving the vehicle in a forward direction) will tend to close the fuel lid.
It is also known to provide fuel lids that move side to side when opened. A fuel lid that opens and closes using a linkage assembly as described below, however, is believed to be unknown and a significant improvement over existing technology.